I’ve reviewed quite a few Battlefield History DVD‘s before, and they just keep getting better and better. This edition in their Arnhem series looks at the role of the 4th Parachute Brigade, from their drop on Ginkel Heath on 18 September 1944 until they joined the Oosterbeek perimeter two days later.

I should register a vested interest, in that my late Grandfather fought with the 11th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment at Arnhem. He hardly ever talked about the battle – unsurprisingly, as he was wounded and taken prisoner and the battle did not go well for the 11th Battalion – so it is a real treat to see so much focus given to his unit, one that has often been overlooked in the history of Arnhem. It’s nice to see a contribution from a soldier who was with the 11th, as so few histories of Arnhem contain anything from them.

I’ve been to Arnhem a couple of times myself, and have always found it hard to describe the terrain in that corner of Holland. This DVD does an admirable job of helping he viewer get a feel for what the battlefield was like. And that’s half the ‘battle’ – bad pun – with military history, ‘smelling’ the battlefield. The clips of re-enactors, equipment and visits to military museums add to the atmosphere and depth of the production.

3 responses to “Arnhem: Battle of the Woods DVD by Battlefield History”

Sounds interesting. I assume, since they are a British company, that the titles are mostly European battles? I’d love to see somebody do a decently detailed cover of the Aleutian Campaign. (Yeah, I know, again with the Aleutians! 😉 ) I also wouldn’t mind catching the British slant on Dieppe – when I met with several of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry vets, they had some .. shall we say … POINTED opinions of British leadership! 😀